Another Plane diverted

[Max Power]

The people of Bangor, Main must appreciate this...

-Hmm better not risk the good people of Boston... Send the plane to Bangor Canada!?
-You mean Main?
-Whatever

=]



US diverts flight in terror alert
An Alitalia flight from Milan to Boston has been diverted to the US state of Maine - the second European flight to be hit by a security alert in a week.
US officials say the name of a passenger on the flight matched that of someone on the US no-fly list.

An Air France flight from Paris to Boston was diverted to Maine on Thursday because a passenger was named on the same terror watch list.

Officials said they would meet the Alitalia plane in the city of Bangor.

The Air France plane was also ordered to land at Bangor airport last week.

After the unscheduled stop, the plane continued to Boston without the passenger who sparked the alert and three of his family members.

The passenger had almost the same name and birthdate as a person on the government's list of suspected terrorists, the Associated Press news agency said.

He was held by immigration officials, but later released.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4556667.stm

Published: 2005/05/17 17:20:47 GMT

? BBC MMV

[Bob burns]

I wonder what the individual's name was...

Yusuph Islam....aka Dog Stevens

:]

[a4l]

Ok this is getting a little silly now. Why can't they screen the list BEFORE people get on the plane? :conspire:

[Max Power]

I wonder if they mean Bangor, Main? =]


Plane diverts after hijack error
A US-bound passenger plane has been diverted to Canada after wrongly transmitting a hijack warning.
The Virgin Atlantic airliner, carrying 273 passengers, was heading from London to New York when US aviation officials asked it to divert to Halifax, Canada.

Virgin confirmed it had spoken directly to the crew and they were safe.

It said the plane's transponder, which sends information to radar stations and air traffic control, had inadvertently sent code used to warn of a hijack.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/4607657.stm

[leaferfan87]

Ok this is getting a little silly now. Why can't they screen the list BEFORE people get on the plane? :conspire:

You'd think that make sense. If a passenger is on the US no fly list you just kick 'em off and not cause any inconviniences for others.

[Iced Tea]

You'd think that make sense. If a passenger is on the US no fly list you just kick 'em off and not cause any inconviniences for others.
You don't understand the plan.

First, the bad guys are lulled into a false sense of success and then it's snatched away from them when the plane is diverted. Finally, to really stick it to the bad guys, they are kicked off the plane in Moose Butt, Minnesota where there isn't even touch tone phones yet. The Feds are geniuses; nothing discourages a bad guy than being stuck in Goat Snot, Wyoming with with no cell phone service.

Darn you, American infidels. :laughing:

[Mel]

This plane diversion lead to the arrest of 2 admitted Al Qaeda members who if I'm not mistaken are cooperating with the FBI.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has arrested two California men after one of them admitted he attended an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, Justice Department officials said on Wednesday.

Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer, of Lodi, California, east of San Francisco, were taken into custody over the weekend. Both men are being held on charges of lying to federal authorities.

Two other men were arrested in Lodi for violating terms of their visas, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd.

The men have been identified as Muhammad Adil Khan -- an imam at Farooqia Islamic Center -- and Shabbir Ahmed, who is also an imam in Lodi, an administration source said.

According to an FBI affidavit, Hamid Hayat told agents he attended al Qaeda training camps in Pakistan in 2003 and 2004.

"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihad mission," according to the affidavit. "Potential targets for attack would include hospitals and large food stores."

Hamid Hayat told agents the camp provided paramilitary training, including training in explosives and hand-to-hand combat, the affidavit said. During weapons training, photos of high-ranking U.S. political figures, including President Bush, were pasted onto targets, according to the affidavit.

"Hamid further stated that he and others at the camp were being trained on how to kill Americans," the affidavit said.

Hamid, whose U.S.-bound flight from Korea was diverted on May 29 to Japan because his name appeared on a no-fly list, had originally denied any involvement in terrorism.

After the plane was diverted, Hamid was interviewed by an FBI agent, the affidavit said. Hamid denied having any connection to terrorism or terrorist activities and was allowed to continue his travel to the United States, it said.

Upon his arrival in California, Hamid again denied being involved in training camps.

One day later, after taking a lie detector test, Hamid admitted that he had attended an al Qaeda training camp, the affidavit said.

Hamid's father, Umer, had originally denied that his son was involved in terrorist training camps and had said he knew of no such camps in Pakistan.

After he was shown a videotape of his son admitting that he trained at the camp, Umer said he had visited the camps and had paid for Hamid's flight to Pakistan to attend the training camp.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-06-08T144446Z_01_N08494796_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-SUSPECTS-DC.XML

[Max Power]

From what I can see it says he was allowed into the US after the plane was diverted?
So they either let him in on purpose to track him or the list has little significance other then standard background flags

[Mel]

It sounds to me like he did not pose a direct risk to the flight, so they let him continue back to the U.S. where he was met by the FBI. It was probably preferable to have him on U.S. soil.